Muffin Vanished
“Lottie, are you home?” Edward burst into the flat and froze when he saw his wife in the hallway. She was crouched on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. “I couldn’t understand a word you said on the phone. You were crying so hard, it was impossible to make sense of it. Then the blasted thing died on me. Whats happened, love? You look absolutely shattered.”
“Muffins gone” Lottie managed to whisper. “Hes not here.”
“Gone? What do you mean?” Edward frowned. “Where could he have gone? Can you explain properly? Maybe hes hiding somewhere in the flat?”
“No. Your sister Victoria Well, she said Muffin accidentally slipped out into the corridor when she took little Alfie out for a walk. But you know as well as I do, Edwardour Muffin would never just bolt out. Why would he? He nearly died out there last time. I think she let him out on purpose”
“What?!” Edward clenched his fists. “Where is she now? Wheres Victoria?”
“Gone to the shops, I think I dont know. Ive been searching for Muffin all this time, but hes nowhere. No ones seen him either. How could anyone do something so cruel, Edward? Throw a helpless creature out into the cold. In winter. What kind of person does that?”
“A decent person wouldnt. But Victoria Victoria would. Especially since shes pulled this sort of stunt before. Dont worry, her feet wont cross our threshold again. Blast it, why did we ever let her stay?”
***
A month earlier
Edward was walking towards the bus stop when he spotted something grey beneath a layer of snow.
At first, he thought it was just a stone lying on the ground. But stones dont tremble like an old fridge on its last legs.
Perhaps thats what caught his eye. Hed never seenlet alone hearda stone shiver from cold.
Curious, he stepped off the path and moved closer. Only then did he realise it wasnt a stone at all. A tiny grey kitten lay there, barely alive.
“Good lord” Edward murmured, scratching the back of his neck. “What are you doing out here, little one?”
Not that he needed an answer.
Any fool could see what a pet was doing alone in the streets. Survivingor trying to. This scrap of fur wasnt mewing for help. Just lying there, trembling. As if it had already accepted no one cared.
Edward scooped the kitten up, brushing snow from its matted fur before tucking it inside his coat. Just as he reached the stop, a bus pulled up.
On the ride home, it struck himLottie had always wanted a kitten just like this. A grey tabby. Theyd meant to visit a shelter, but time had slipped away. And here fate had dropped one right at his feet. When fortune hands you a gift, you take it.
“Lottie, Ive a surprise for you,” Edward announced cheerfully as he stepped inside.
“Oh, youve been spoiling me rotten lately,” she laughed, coming into the hall. “First those gold earrings, then the phone Id been eyeing, now cinema tickets. Whats it this time? Ski trip vouchers?”
“Better!” Grinning, Edward unzipped his coat and produced the kitten. “Found him outside. Isnt he just what you wanted? A little grey tabby?”
“My word,” Lottie gasped. “Hes frozen stiff, poor love. Give him hereIll warm him up. You get washed up; suppers ready.”
She cradled the kitten, smiling softly. “Hes beautiful”
And so Muffin came into their lives. Theyd debated names for agesTom or Oliver?but settled on the classic.
“Muffin suits him better than something fancy, dont you think?”
“Absolutely, darling.”
That happy day had been in late November, just as the first snow fell. The kitten had never known winters cruelty outdoors.
Thank heavens. For many strays, that first winter is their last
In the fortnight since, Edward and Lottie had grown fiercely attached. Notheyd loved him from the first instant, but each day deepened it.
Muffin adored them too. Kind people. The sort whod never harm him or cast him out, unlike his first owners. So he was content. Even when he knocked things off shelves, they never scoldedjust asked him to be careful.
*”I will!”* hed meow back, promptly leaping onto the dresser to bat the telly remote down again.
All was well until the knock came.
“Who calls at seven on a Sunday?” Edward rubbed his eyes, squinting at the clock. Still dark outside.
“Neighbours, perhaps?” Lottie suggested. “An emergency?”
“Ill see.”
Opening the door, Edward found his sister Victoria on the step. With her five-year-old, Alfie.
“Hello, brother,” she beamed. “Weve come to visit. You dont mind, do you?”
“Well, actually”
“Ah, I knowI shouldve rung first. But it was all rather sudden, and youd not have picked up at this hour. So here we are. Going to let us in? And help with the suitcase? Dragging it up four flights nearly killed me.”
Of course, Edward let them in. But the suitcase gave him pause. People dont bring luggage for casual visits.
“Something happened?”
“Isnt it obvious?” Victoria countered. “My husbands thrown me out. Found himself a new woman, can you believe it? Nowhere else to go. If its alright, Ill stay awhile. Sort things out. We can even celebrate New Years togetherlovely, isnt it? Four years weve barely spoken. And were family.”
“You know why we dont speak. Lies dont build bridges.”
“Oh, dont dredge up ancient history. Let bygones be bygones, as they say. Must you hold it over me forever? People make mistakes.”
Edward bit his tongue. No sense starting the day with a row. And Lottie would disapprove if he berated his sister, newly homeless with a child.
Though Victoria had earned every reproach.
Five years prior, their father had passed. Long separated, hed still supported themand left a spacious three-bed flat in London, to be split between Edward and Victoria. No other kin.
At the time, Victoria was pregnantby whom, none knew.
With their mothers backing, shed begged Edward to renounce his share. “I need it moreyoure a man, unmarried!”
“Son, think of the baby,” their mother had pressed.
Edward hadnt fought it. A student then, hed empathised. Hed manage. Get a mortgage like everyone else.
Fine.
But once Alfie was born, Victoria sold the flat and moved in with some new beau whod tolerate a ready-made family.
“Vals in businesshe needed capital,” shed explained. “Besides, the flat was mine to do with as I pleased. Understood?”
Edward had erupted. Their agreement had been clear. If she sold, half the proceeds were his by right. But the money vanished into Vals “business venture.”
Their mother stayed neutral”Sort it out yourselves, youre adults.”
Though a decade earlier, when they were children, shed been just as hands-off.
Back then, Edward had brought home a stray kitten from school. Soon after, it disappeared.
Hed never suspected their mothershed allowed the pet (theyd lived rurally, with space to spare). That left Victoria.
“Where is he? Tell me!” hed shouted.
Shed never confessed. But Edward saw the lie in her eyes. The kitten had vexed her from day one. When he brought home anotherit too vanished. Coincidence? Hardly.
Their mother had shrugged. Victoria feigned ignorance. After that, Edward stopped bringing strays home
No wonder relations were strained.
And now here she was at dawn, begging shelter.
“Edward, where else can she go?” Lottie had sighed. “Let her stay awhile. Till she finds a place. You cant turn her out with a childnot at Christmas. Maybe youll even reconcile.”
“Fine,” Edward relented. “If youre alright with it.”
Yet his gut warned nothing good would come of this.
He was right.
By next morning, Victoria was complaining about Muffin. He disturbed her sleep, lounged on *her* sofa, gave her odd looks.
Then Alfie developed sniffles.
“Its that catIm sure hes allergic,” she declared. “My Alfie was fit as a fiddle before.”
“Doubtful. More likely he caught cold outdoors,” Edward argued. “Even if it *
